I Will Protect My Brother - Chapter 43

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 43
“…So what exactly are you trying to say?”
“I’m telling you to sever your ties cleanly from now on. You’re oddly lenient only with Winyak.”
“….”
“No matter how oblivious you are, Elixir won’t do. Answer me, Rosien.”
I looked up at Luize with an unwavering gaze. Instead of asking why he was reacting so sensitively, I smiled with a slight squint of my eyes.
Unable to spit at a smiling face, Luize’s pupils wavered momentarily. I gently patted his cheek.
“Yes, I’ll accept your advice gratefully.”
“…Sister.”
“So you’ll continue helping me, won’t you?”
If Whezel also began targeting me, it would become quite troublesome. I needed to properly bring Luize to my side here.
I deliberately lowered my voice.
“You’re the one who says people shouldn’t be two-faced. You’ll never lie to me. You’ll always be honest before me, and you’re meant to always be my ally like my Guardian Star, aren’t you, Luize?”
“Y…es.”
Luize nodded hesitantly, his cheeks flushed slightly.
It was an expression similar to the Kirges Classmates who would collectively combust like roasted sweet potatoes whenever they saw me.
Was he angry? Or did it seem like I was forcing him?
I deliberately narrowed my eyes even more gently. I wasn’t naturally gifted like Kalien, but I had learned a thing or two about charm from him.
As I pulled Luize down with both hands, he hesitantly drew closer. I swept back his slightly coarse hair and whispered softly to his ear.
“Thank you, Luize. You’re truly the only one for me.”
“…Don’t say such things, Sister.”
“I trust you. You understand, don’t you?”
Luize trembled slightly. He hesitated before nodding, and I smiled with satisfaction.
“Good, thank you. So…you’ll keep the promise you made earlier about looking into information on the Broken Chaos, right?”
“…I promise.”
“Then let go of my arm now!”
When I tapped the hand gripping my shoulder as if it would shatter it, Luize’s grip gradually loosened.
Only then did he seem to come to his senses, blinking rapidly. He couldn’t look directly at me, his gaze wandering in confusion.
I couldn’t help but laugh.
‘He’s just grown in body, but still a child at heart. How does he fall for it so easily?’
I found him endearing and earnestly stroked the head of his jaguar form with utmost care.
* * *
After my conversation with Luize, I had one less thing to worry about.
‘Until Luize brings me information about that tentacled monster or the Broken Chaos, I’ll interrogate the second suspect.’
The target was none other than Regina Kirges. My teacher.
Of course, I knew how ungrateful it was to suspect someone who was like my benefactor. But I couldn’t forget those black eyes of hers looking down at me lying in the coffin.
‘She didn’t seem like the Regina I know. Not in that moment.’
I had no way to capture that red-eyed monster immediately. Its existence itself was unclear.
So I decided to investigate my teacher first.
The method was, of course, the Planetarium.
‘Regina’s Planetarium must also contain a complete record of everything that happened sixteen years ago. From Regina’s perspective.’
Of course, my Master also carried the Planetarium with them at all times. Moreover, since no one else could open the Planetarium, the moment Regina opened it herself would be the perfect opportunity to….
‘Subdue them in one swift move, confirm the Planetarium’s records, and then erase their memories cleanly.’
Would that even be possible…?
Regardless of anything else, there was no way my Master wouldn’t notice the memory manipulation spell I’d cast on them.
How long had I been lost in such solitary thoughts?
A warm voice drifting from beside me pulled my consciousness back.
“Is something troubling you, Rosy?”
Kalien was facing me in the exact same posture, his cheek pressed against the table. Despite this foolish pose that had left me looking like a squashed piece of bread, Kalien’s radiant face bore not a trace of indignity.
He playfully poked my compressed cheek with his index finger.
“Won’t you tell your older brother what’s on your mind?”
“Well….”
“I want to know what’s troubling Rosy too. Maybe I can help.”
I held my tongue. In truth, I had intended not to tell Kalien. Since I would be leaving Winyak within a few years anyway, it was better to sever emotional ties sooner rather than later.
And regarding my true identity, I wanted to keep it secret from Kalien above all others.
Kalien thought of me as a true younger sibling, but if he learned that the real me was thirteen years his senior—an old man at heart—wouldn’t things become awkward between us? After all this time of him calling me “older brother” and throwing tantrums at me.
Interpreting my melancholic expression as something, Kalien clicked his tongue softly.
“You still don’t trust me, do you, Rosy?”
“A little?”
“Why? You said you liked strong and reliable people, so I trained hard last year. Now I can even wield the Guardian Star’s blessing freely.”
Kalien snapped his fingers lightly. Starlight rolled across and seeped into the bridge of my nose.
“So is it a matter of muscles after all?”
“…No, it’s not that.”
I examined him with slightly renewed eyes. It was something I’d been feeling frequently lately—Kalien was no longer merely a young boy I needed to protect.
I had thought I couldn’t drag an innocent child into the conflicts between Transcendent Families. But now, Kalien would become an adult in just a couple of months.
‘Then perhaps…I could rely on him a little.’
Yet Luize’s suspicious warning still lingered in my mind.
“Rosien, you’ve never once witnessed his true nature.”
Of course, as Luize said, I didn’t know exactly what face Kalien showed to others.
But everyone lives with multiple faces. Even I was worlds apart between my days as Rosien Kirges and my current self as Rosy of Winyak.
It’s impossible to be a good person to everyone.
So it was enough if my person was only kind and affectionate to me.
“…There are those who target me, Kalien.”
My heavy lips finally opened.
“So far I’ve identified at least four. If they begin to move in earnest, the forces under their command will multiply endlessly.”
“Who would target our kind princess?”
“Right? Where else would you find someone who’s lived as virtuously as I have.”
“Do you have any suspicions about who they might be?”
Worry instantly flooded Kalien’s crimson eyes. They were eyes so clear that one couldn’t possibly suspect them of harboring dark intentions.
Suddenly, I felt a pang of guilt.
“I’m saying you need to make a clean break right now if you’re going to make one at all. Sister, you’re oddly lenient only toward Wynyak.”
‘Luize Whezel. Stop saying unnecessary things.’
But he wasn’t wrong. I had to admit that until now, I’d only thrown irresponsible blank checks at Kalien.
I couldn’t promise to stay with Kalien forever in Wynyak, so I shouldn’t make such promises anymore. But I hated the idea of deliberately keeping my distance either.
Then I suppose I have no choice but to reveal my circumstances. Slowly, step by step. In a way Kalien can accept without being shocked.
So I should start with this, then. I carefully broached the subject.
“Say, Kali… do you believe in past lives or reincarnation?”
Technically it was resurrection, but the meaning was similar enough.
“Past lives, you say.”
Kalien let out a thoughtful hum.
“In this Rahnar governed by the stars, it wouldn’t be surprising even if such miracles did occur. But why the sudden question?”
“Well, I remember my past life.”
“Really?”
“Yes. In my past life, there were people I thought of as family, but it seems it was all just my misunderstanding. The truth is, things didn’t end well for me in that life… and it seems they might be connected to it somehow.”
Once the floodgates opened, the words came pouring out.
“We weren’t even that close, but now that I’m finding out later, I feel this sense of betrayal welling up?”
“So you’re sad, Rosy?”
“Hmm, I’m not quite sure yet. Right now I’m just curious. Did they really hate me enough to… want to kill me?”
I’d almost said ‘Did they really kill me?’ but caught myself and changed course.
“It could just be my misunderstanding, so I want to verify it for certain. Actually, there’s not just one likely suspect.”
“Then who else is there?”
“The red-eyed monster I mentioned last time.”
Kalien’s eyes blinked rapidly.
“My plan is this. First, I’ll investigate that person they call family, and if they’re not the culprit… then I’ll search for that monster.”
“…How?”
“If it caught my eye, then others must have witnessed that creature too. I’ll narrow down the tracking net based on eyewitness accounts. But… I have a feeling it’s not far away.”
“What makes you think that?”
“Because it keeps circling around me.”
It appeared sixteen years ago during the Family Head succession war, and it came to my funeral too. After discovering that, I spent several days and nights digging through the Planetarium’s past records.
And I found it. A pair of red eyes that appeared periodically, hovering near me.
“Four years ago, it was definitely the thing clinging to your shadow. Why does it follow me so persistently? It’s strange…”
The more I thought about it, the more complicated it became. I let out an exasperated sigh and squeezed my eyes shut.
In doing so, I missed whatever expression Kalien was making.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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